March 8
Daily Gleanings of the Saintly LifeFourth Friday after Epiphany
Hast thou heard the secret of the Lord? Job 15:8.
BE very jealous, then, how thou speakest of the love of God to thee, or of the love which He giveth. It is "the secret of the Lord." "Thy secret to thyself," it was said of old. God can, so to speak, only give Himself to the lowly, because His very gifts would injure one who was lifted up by His gifts. Even S. Paul had "a messenger from Satan to buffet him," lest he should be exalted by the revelations given him. "Let the servant of Christ," says a holy inward man, "who loveth virtues and followeth prayer, have humility; let him show humility in acts, in life, above all in prayers. When this virtue shall have filled, cast down, melted his soul, then shall the heart begin to be enlarged by love irradiated by truth, filled with light, bedewed with exultation, gladdened by sweetness, fed with devotion, upraised by the Spirit, borne out of itself with transports, enfolded in love, gleam with contemplation, encompassed with brightness, enriched with joys ineffable. Hence ariseth the revelation of secrets, the unfolding of Scriptures, the knowledge of things to come, freedom from the senses, inward partaking of heavenly goods cleaving to the Divine Goodness, and the blessed fruition of oneness of Spirit.
Hast thou felt that secret joy that flows Against the tide of common overthrows? Or hast thou known the dawnings of a God Upon thee when His love is shed abroad? Or hast thou heard the sacred harmony Of a calm conscience echoing in thee A requiem from above? a sealed peace Beyond the power of hell, sin, or disease? Or hast thou tasted that communion Between a reconciled God and man? That holy intercourse? those precious smiles?